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RESEARCH PAPER
Application of 3D WebGIS and real-time technique in earthquakeinformation publishing and visualization
Boren Li . Jianping Wu . Mao Pan . Jing Huang
Received: 14 October 2014 / Accepted: 7 April 2015 / Published online: 16 June 2015
� The Author(s) 2015. This article is published with open access at Springerlink.com
Abstract In hazard management, earthquake researchers
have utilized GIS to ease the process of managing disasters.
Researchers use WebGIS to assess hazards and seismic
risk. Although they can provide a visual analysis platform
based on GIS technology, they lack a general description in
the extensibility of WebGIS for processing dynamic data,
especially real-time data. In this paper, we propose a novel
approach for real-time 3D visual earthquake information
publishing model based on WebGIS and digital globe to
improve the ability of processing real-time data in systems
based on WebGIS. On the basis of the model, we imple-
ment a real-time 3D earthquake information publishing
system—EqMap3D. The system can not only publish real-
time earthquake information but also display these data and
their background geoscience information in a 3D scene. It
provides a powerful tool for display, analysis, and decision-
making for researchers and administrators. It also facili-
tates better communication between researchers engaged in
geosciences and the interested public.
Keywords Earthquake � Real time � Virtual globe �WebGIS
1 Introduction
Significant earthquakes often lead to loss of life, destruc-
tion of infrastructure, and consequently economic loss.
However, earthquake prevention and mitigation require
handling of complex data, including various spatial and
temporal scales, historical records, real-time monitoring,
and subsequent analytical results. Scientific and effective
organization of the information is needed. As a tool for
integrating multisource data, GIS has a profound impact on
disaster risk reduction and provides the possibility of two-
and three-dimensional (2D/3D) visual analysis of massive
geospatial and hazard data (Abdalla and Tao 2004; Paar
and Clasen 2007). It also increases the efficiency and
effectiveness of hazard management. As a part of hazard
management, earthquake disaster researchers have used
GIS to facilitate disaster management. Researchers use
WebGIS to assess hazards and seismic risk (Zerger and
Smith 2003; Pessina and Meroni 2009; Sato and Harp
2009; Hashemi and Alesheikh 2011) and to share valuable
information resources with the public by publishing various
analytical seismic results on the Internet and elsewhere.
Historical seismic data can also be analyzed with GIS
(Cubellis and Carlino 2004; Pessina and Meroni 2009). For
post-earthquake transportation, optimum pathways are
rapidly obtained using GIS-based systems (Cao et al. 2009;
Saadatseresht et al. 2009).
Although GIS is widely used in earthquake monitoring
and prediction, it also enables to improve earthquake
damage prevention, situation assessment, post-earthquake
emergency relief, and so forth. Nevertheless, these systems
are insufficient when dealing with seismic data, namely
timely (real-time or near real-time) publishing and visual-
ization of seismic information. Existing GIS-based
B. Li (&) � J. Wu � J. Huang
Institute of Geophysics, China Earthquake Administration,
Bejing 100081, China
e-mail: [email protected]
J. Wu
e-mail: [email protected]
J. Huang
e-mail: [email protected]
M. Pan
School of Earth and Space Sciences, Peking University, Beijng,
China
e-mail: [email protected]
123
Earthq Sci (2015) 28(3):223–231
DOI 10.1007/s11589-015-0124-1
application systems are weak in processing dynamic data,
such as the latest seismic events, or the calculation of
seismic intensity after an earthquake (Yu and Gong 2012).
Most existing systems based on WebGIS use two-dimen-
sional (2D) maps (JMA 2015; USGS/NEIC 2014; IRIS
2015), that is, using earthquake information and terrain
layers to simulate real earthquake environment. The sim-
ulated environment are widely different from three-di-
mensional (3D) world that people actually experience.
To meet the needs of earthquake emergencies and post-
earthquake disaster mitigation, we propose in this paper a
new solution to the real-time problem for GIS that inte-
grates WebGIS, a temporal model, and 3D graphical user
interfaces to provide real-time display and analysis tool for
earthquake disaster mitigation. We propose a four-tier
model for the real-time 3D visual earthquake information
publishing based on WebGIS and virtual globe. This model
consists of four layers: acquisition, database service,
application service, and visualization layers. The acquisi-
tion layer collects real-time seismic data. The database
service layer is responsible for managing real-time data and
spatial data together with nonspatial data. The application
service layer retrieves data from the database service layer,
pushing real-time data to the client by means of the visu-
alization layer, and provides map services. The visualiza-
tion layer dynamically renders data from the application
service layer for the client. This includes rendering vector
data, massive amounts of image data, and terrain data in 3D
scenes. Although different technologies are available to
implement visualization of a 3D scenario, they comprise
two types: one based on web-page techniques, such as
Virtual Reality Modeling Language (VRML) (Bell et al.
1995; X3D, 2015); WebGL 2013); the other based on cli-
ents such as Google Earth (GoogleEarth 2015) and World
Wind (2014). VRML and X3D require prior installation of
a browser plug-in. Using technologies based on X3D, Shi
et al. (2008) developed an earthquake disaster prevention
and mitigation system. However, WebGL 3D can display
contents directly in a web browser without additional set-
tings. The client mode, that is, Google Earth and World
Wind, can offer more powerful and functional experiences
to users. Based on this model, we have developed a real-
time earthquake publishing system. Here, we describe the
system architecture and focus on the representation and
rendering of seismic events as real-time data in the 3D
scene.
This paper is organized as follows. We first present our
model in Sect. 2 and then implement this model in Sect. 3.
In Sect. 3.1, we describe the system architecture. In
Sect. 3.2, we present 3D visualization of earthquake
information. Section 4 gives some examples of application
of the system. We conclude with a summary of our work in
Sect. 5.
2 3D WebGIS-based real-time information publishing
model
With the development of seismic sensors, transmission
networks, computer hardware, and software, a digital
seismic observation networks for seismic monitoring can
now provide a variety of real-time information, such as
real-time waveforms, gravity, underground fluids, and
crustal deformation. In addition, as another type of real-
time data, the earthquake situation, disaster management,
and emergency decision support information management
system provide real-time analysis and data dissemination
of the earthquake situation, earthquake prediction, or dis-
aster-area range. To manage and analyze these data of
different types and spatial characteristics, we use GIS
because it characteristically integrates and visualizes mul-
tisource data.
In this paper, we integrate real-time data collecting and
processing with traditional GIS (Gong et al. 2014) and
propose a novel approach for a real-time 3D visual earth-
quake information publishing model based on WebGIS and
digital globe. The model unifies dynamic data publishing
with static spatial data over a network and vividly displays
processed data in 3D virtual scenarios. It provides a general
solution of assembling seismological and spatial data by
way of standard services for seismology.
This model consists of four tiers or layers: acquisition,
database service, application service, and visualization, as
shown in Fig. 1. The acquisition layer collects real-time
seismic information. It consists mainly of various real-time
information receivers. The receiver modules retrieve the
Database Layer
Application Service Layer
Visualization Layer
Map serviceReal-time service
Web Server
Temporal View 3D View
WMS/WFSReal-time Data
Spatial DB
AcquisitionLayer
Real-time informationReceiver
Real-time Geography Imagery Geology
Real-time DB
Fig. 1 Real-time 3D WebGIS architecture
224 Earthq Sci (2015) 28(3):223–231
123
information from organizations such as the U.S. Geological
Survey (USGS 2014), the China Network Center (CENC
2014), real-time seismic network monitoring and analysis
systems, and earthquake early warning systems and push the
data into the database layer. The acquisition layer differs the
tiers of a general WebGIS system in that can automatically
real-time collect data, whereas the tiers of the WebGIS system
lack the appropriate function. The database layer deals with
two different types of spatial information: real-time and static
data. The real-time data are managed by real-time database,
such as a seismic events database. The static data are managed
by spatial database, such as cartographic maps, remote sensing
images, digital elevation models, faults, and plate boundaries,
which cannot be changed in a short time. The application
service layer is key to the architecture of the model. It retrieves
data from the database layer and publishes the processed result
using the visualization layer. It provides two services: real-
time service and a map service through a web server. Real-
time service filters the real-time data from the database layer
and converts the data into a unified format, whereas the map
service offers Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) Web Map/
Feature Service (WMS/WFS). The visualization layer per-
forms two functions: temporal and 3D map displays. The
temporal view dynamically represents real-time data, that is,
earthquake events and current status of seismic devices, which
are pushed from the application service layer. Three-dimen-
sional (3D) map view mainly renders the 3D scene using
vector data, remote sensing images, and terrain data. The two
components can be combined into a 3D visual client or web
browser, that is, a virtual globe, from which users can inter-
actively access remote resources with operation requests and
display the results of the comprehensive information. The
layer integrates various data and expresses the virtual reality
of the geographic area in focus, improving the representation
of seismological information.
The model has the ability to collect, analyze, and dissem-
inate real-time earthquake information, obtained from orga-
nization websites or automatic processing systems, such as
earthquake early warning (EEW) systems, which generate
earthquake information, shake maps, and alert information. It
can also easily be extended to a range of types of real-time
data, such as gravity, underground fluids, and crustal defor-
mation merely by adding new real-time receiver modules, and
is not limited to post-earthquake information.
3 Implementing a real-time 3D earthquake publishing
system
3.1 System components
Based on a previous model, we have developed a real-time
3D earthquake information publishing system, EqMap3D,
which can rapidly collect, transfer, integrate, and display
earthquake information and massive amounts of multiscale
spatial data over a network. The system has four compo-
nents (Fig. 2), similar to the four-tier architecture in the
publishing model described previously.
The EqMap3D system receives the seismic information
from real-time data sources in three systems: Earthquake
Instant Messaging (EQIM), Prototype Earthquake Early
Warning System (PEEWS), and ShakeMap. The EQIM
(Yang and Huang 2009) system official timely issues alerts
regarding the latest seismic events from CENC over the
Chinese seismic network after large earthquakes in China
and other regions of the world. PEEW (Peng et al. 2011)
produces alert messages for the Beijing capital
region(36�N–42�N, 113.5�E–120�E) after a medium or
large earthquake (Ml[ 3). The earthquake information
generated from the two systems includes three elements of
a typical seismic event: origin time, epicenter, and mag-
nitude. These data are stored in the real-time database
based on the PostgreSQL/PostGIS database (OSGeo 2010;
Obe and Hsu 2011). Table 1 shows the data structure in the
form of tuples or sets of ordered elements, stored in the
database. It clearly shows that the earthquake information
has both spatial and temporal characteristics. In addition,
we extended the earthquake information to contain strong
ground motion information by enabling the platform to
dynamically receive raw grid data from the ShakeMap
system (Chen et al. 2010) via a new ShakeMap receiver
Applicationg Service Layer
Database Layer
Visualization Layer
GeoServerEqMap service
Tomcat
3D Visualization Client
WMS/WFSGeoRSS
PostgreSQL/PostGIS
Acquisition Layer
Real-time Receiver
EQIM EEW SkakeMap
Real-time GS RS TS
Fig. 2 Real-time 3D earthquake information publishing system
architecture
Earthq Sci (2015) 28(3):223–231 225
123
module. Because the raw grid data are only intermediate
results of the represented strong ground motion information
for map display, the data are not stored in the real-time
database, but are directly pushed into the application ser-
vice layer in the platform. The raw grid data are handled
with spatial interpolation in the EqMap3D service module
and then placed into the GeoServer (2014) to generate
maps. Then the maps are distributed over a network with
the Web Map Service (WMS) protocol and stored in the
PostgreSQL/PostGIS database.
Besides the real-time data mentioned above, the system
contains massive amounts of spatial data stored in the
spatial database based on PostgreSQL/PostGIS as static
data. It stores vector and raster data, that is, administrative
divisions, roads, remote sensing imagery, and elevation.
Currently, the data constructing the spatial database con-
tain mainly the vector data such as 1:1,000,000 details of
China’s major transportation systems, rivers, and admin-
istrative points; raster data such as globe terrain elevation
data SRTM30 (90 m), global Blue Marble Next Generation
(BMNG) satellite imagery (8, 2, and 0.5 km), global
Landsat7 satellite imagery (15 m); a catalog of global
earthquakes (Ml[ 5) from 2008 to 2013; and 1:4,000,000-
scale active Chinese tectonics as tectonic and seismic
activity data. These data can be published as web service
content by the GeoServer (2014) map server following the
OGC WMS/WFS standard.
To disseminate real-time earthquake information (not
including ShakeMap), the data should be formatted to
support convenient exchange. Geodata can use typical
Extensible Markup Language (XML)-based techniques for
exchanging, that is, Geography Markup Language (GML),
Keyhole Markup Language (KML), Geo Really Simple
Syndication (GeoRSS), and JavaScript Object Notation
(JSON)-based (GeoJSON) in web. We have adopted the
GeoRSS-GML (Kresse and Danko 2012) format to encode
the latest earthquake information because it widely sup-
ports various coordinate reference systems. Figure 3 shows
an example of the content of the latest seismic event using
the GeoRSS feed that we consider in this paper.
The published data are used by a 3D-visualization client
(discussed in the next section). The viewer can simulta-
neously visualize various server map layers in the client,
including such spatial data as cities, roads, rivers, faults,
and the latest seismic events, and historical large earth-
quakes as spatiotemporal data, as shown in Fig. 4.
3.2 3D visualization for earthquake information
The 3D visualization client uses virtual globe technology to
render real-time earthquake information and massive real-
world vector, imagery, and terrain datasets. To researchers,
World Wind (NASA World Wind 2014) (released in 2004)
is an attractive open-source 3D interactive viewer because
its plug-in architecture enables users to easily add plug-ins
and customize according to their requirements, compared
to the commercial software Google Earth. Importantly, it is
also a lightweight client because it accesses the necessary
image and elevation from the backend NASA World Wind
server across the Internet and downloads only those data
that are required to display the view requested by the user.
It and its server compose the client/server architecture (C/
S). However, World Wind has several limitations, such as
system security (privacy issues in distributing data) and
functional interoperability (cross-platform interoperable
standards).
The client was developed using the Java program lan-
guage, which is easily deployed easily on any machine. We
use the World Wind Java software development kit (2011)
as the basic library for rendering 3D geospatial scenes.
However, we modify and add functional parts to the SDK
for applications in seismic research that specify our local
map server instead of the NASA map server, providing
satellite images, terrain elevation data, and place name
services. In addition to terrain and image data, the client
retrieves other geologic data such as faults and trends of
seismic activity provided by the application service layer
(Fig. 2), and it builds various layers depending on the
research topics of users.
Visualization of earthquake information can present not
only the properties of a seismic event itself but also the
characteristics of the specific area related to a seismic
event. Visualization is important because, when additional
information on the earthquake emerges, it can be used as a
further evidence with which to anticipate damage to the
area in an emergency response scenario, such as mountain
landslides caused by earthquakes. The construction of the
3D topography of an area is performed by the 3D visual-
ization client which uses the visualizing layer of the
EqMap3D platform (Fig. 2). This layer receives data from
the application service layer.
Temporal visualization is one of the most important
features in spatiotemporal information systems (Nadi and
Table 1 The data structure of
earthquake informationField Type
ID varchar
Eq_type int
O_time datetime
Latitude double
Longitude double
Geometry Point
Depth double
Magnitude double
Location varchar
226 Earthq Sci (2015) 28(3):223–231
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Delavar 2003), because it can dynamically display data.
We recognize three categories for a spatiotemporal object:
positional, geometric, and attribute changes over time and
combinations thereof. A new seismic event represents a
combination type because it has a new location (position
changes) and corresponding attributes (attribute changes).
Changes in spatial position can be represented intuitively
using different points in space. As such, changes in attri-
butes can be displayed through visual mapping variables
such as symbol size. This representation model can
dynamically display the spatial location and state of an
object, that is, earthquake changes with time. Changes in
the position of an earthquake and aftershocks can be
visually displayed on demand by the use of colors and
shapes to visualize the status of the earthquake, that is, time
and magnitude. In our publishing system, in addition to
displaying the position of a seismic event, we use color to
identify the time of its occurrence and size and shape to
identify its magnitude.
Seismic events comprise three main elements: time,
location, and magnitude. In essence, earthquake informa-
tion is spatiotemporal because it combines spatial,
temporal, and nonspatial attributes. To integrate real-time
data into the 3D visualization client in the EqMap3D sys-
tem, we add the GeoRSS parser into the visualization
library. Then, we use a special layer to store the parsed
real-time data, which can refresh its content in a timely
manner, similar to the dynamic link layer in Google Earth.
Finally, the spatiotemporal objects, that is, seismic events,
that are stored in the layer are displayed in the 3D visu-
alization client.
4 Application of the system
The EqMap3D system is a powerful information service
platform for emergency response that receives, stores,
processes, integrates, publishes, and displays real-time
earthquake information. In particular, it can display the
earthquake information in a 3D virtual globe scene and
provide user interactivity, including easy browsing,
zooming, and layer operations at multiscales and in real
time, realistically reflecting the latest earthquake and
environmental context. It is not only a tool for analysis of
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><rss xmlns:gml="http://www.opengis.net/gml" xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom" xmlns:georss="http://www.georss.org/georss" version="2.0"><channel>
<title>LatestEarthquake</title><description>null</description><link>http://127.0.0.1</link><item>
<title>eq.CC20140910170918</title><updated>2014-09-10T17:10:26</updated><link>http://127.0.0.1/latestequake</link><guid>http://127.0.0.1/latestequake</guid><description><![CDATA[fid=eq.CC20140910170918 O_time=2014-9-10 16:59:29
Lat=27.1133 Lon=103.378 Depth=10.0 Ml=4.2 Location_cname=
</description><gml:Point srsDimension="2">
<gml:pos>103.378 27.1133</gml:pos>
</gml:Point></item>
</channel></rss>
Fig. 3 An example of a GeoRSS feed for the latest earthquake information
Earthq Sci (2015) 28(3):223–231 227
123
earthquake information but also, and more importantly, a
venue for communicating research information and find-
ings to the public. Seismological researchers can visualize
their own data through the platform.
The system has been deployed in the Institute of
Geophysics, China Earthquake Administration and dis-
seminates real-time earthquake information and visual-
ization of seismic analysis to inform the emergency
response.
The system was first applied to an MS 7.3 earthquake
occurred in Yutian County, Xinjiang Province on February
12, 2014 for analysis of the earthquake scenario (Fig. 5).
When the receiver module in the system (Fig. 2) obtained
the formal report of the earthquake occurrence from the
EQIM system, the 3D visualization client of the system
automatically navigated to the epicenter, automatically dis-
played the topography, terrain features, and geological faults
in the vicinity of the epicenter area from the air at an angle.
The raw data of rapid shaking intensity for the earthquake
were published by the application service layer after being
processed through the analysis module of the system
(Fig. 6). The extent of the damage caused by the earthquake
can be seen in the 3D scene, based on predicted ground
motions. By scaling and viewing the geological features of
shaking intensity IX and VIII areas, We can recognized the
affected area of unhibited and mountainous.
Figure 7 shows an MS 6.5 earthquake occurred in
Ludian County, Yunnan Province on August 3, 2014, with
satellite images at different resolutions for the area of 3D
topography. Figure 7a shows the terrain conditions around
the epicenter using Landsat7 satellite images with a reso-
lution of 15 m at a scale of 1:2000. Figure 7b shows the
landforms around the epicenter when using high-resolution
image landscapes at a scale of 1:50.
As shown above, the system offers not only a rapid
display platform for real-time seismic events and the pre-
dicted distribution of strong ground motions but also geo-
scientific background information visualized in 3D by
which the epicenter, magnitude, geographic, and geologic
contexts, and potential geologic hazards are easily under-
stood. In addition, the system facilitates accurate estima-
tion of the degree of seismic risk for the disaster
management and decision-making response such as the
visualization of the ShakeMap data.
5 Conclusions
By providing comprehensive information in earthquake
risk scenario analysis, GIS technology can increase
decision-making efficiency in earthquake disaster
mitigation.
Fig. 4 The 3D visualization client of the real-time 3D earthquake publishing system
228 Earthq Sci (2015) 28(3):223–231
123
In this paper, we propose first a novel model that
combines conventional WebGIS and real-time techniques
into a real-time 3D information publishing system. It
consists of four components: an acquisition layer, a data-
base layer, an application service layer, and a visualization
layer. This system avoids the deficiencies of WebGIS in
Fig. 5 The Yutian MS 7.3 earthquake occurred at 17:59:50 (LT) or 09:59:50 (UTC) on February 12, 2014, near a fault zone, is shown in the 3D
visualization client
Fig. 6 The ShakeMap published 35 min after the Yutian MS 7.3 earthquake
Earthq Sci (2015) 28(3):223–231 229
123
dealing with dynamic data, enabling seamless integration
of real-time data and GIS. It also offers real-time 3D
visualization of composite data for earthquake event and
geoscience data. Based on this model, we developed a real-
time 3D earthquake information publishing system and
described its architecture. For the seismic event as a type of
spatiotemporal data, we use dynamic temporal visualiza-
tion to display the data in 3D scenarios. Our system
Fig. 7 The Ludian MS 6.5 earthquake that occurred at 16:30:10 (LT) or 08:30:10 (UTC) on August 3, 2014, automatically loading different
resolutions remote sensing images at different scales
230 Earthq Sci (2015) 28(3):223–231
123
provides instant earthquake information publishing with
3D GIS, which reduces the time–cost of decision making in
damage mitigation.
For future work, we plan to improve the processing of
real-time data, that is, progressive ground-shaking maps in
time lapse. This will enable rapid and efficient access to
seismic hazard and risk data.
Open Access This article is distributed under the terms of the
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://cre-
ativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use,
distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give
appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a
link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were
made.
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